My name is Jim Wilson. I am 88 years old, pastor of Word of Life Church in Moscow. I am Douglas Wilson’s father.
I am not a regular reader of what goes on in this blog. It would take up too much of my time. However, I have a few things I would like to say. Please do not feel … [Read more...]

With regard to the historic Protestant doctrine of regeneration, a lot could be said, and I believe a lot more should be said. One of the things we will discover is that there is more careful nuance than might be found in the peroration of a hot gospel hedge preacher. At the same … [Read more...]

I just finished listening to a talk which addressed the question of whether regeneration should be defined as a change in nature, and was reminded of something from Wodehouse. Some minds are like the soup in a bad restaurant -- better left unstirred.
Two basic things came to … [Read more...]

I am currently reading A Humble Inquiry by Jonathan Edwards, in which he explains the reasons why he was putting some doctrinal daylight between himself and his predecessor Solomon Stoddard. And since these basic issues, being what they are, cannot ever go away, and because in … [Read more...]

In my stack of books being read, there are a handful of writers that are always in there somewhere. I make a constant point of always having a book by Chesterton, Bunyan, Lewis, Thomas Watson . . . and, to come to our point this morning, Jonathan Edwards.
I am currently in … [Read more...]

My friend Garry Vanderveen has been kind enough to suggest a side-by-side comparison of what Jim Jordan and I teach on the subject of regeneration, coming to the conclusion that we are not all that far apart. I commend that post to you, with the exception of whatever was going on … [Read more...]

As I never tire of saying, the new birth is not an optional add-on extra. It is absolutely essential, but since we tend to get gummed up on this kind of thing, it is also important to fill that statement in. Essential to what? If we say "essential to salvation," which is the … [Read more...]

In a fallen world, there must be an antithesis. But since the devil is the accuser, we should therefore see that his power rests in accusations that misplace the antithesis. Seeing this is the heart of all spiritual wisdom, and the beginning of all spiritual life.
The only … [Read more...]

My friend Peter Leithart tags to an argument by Alan Kerr on the Spirit in John 3. Kerr's argument, in sum, is that in the gospel of John, the Spirit is not given until later in the gospel (John 20:22). This means, on this reading, that whatever Jesus was talking about with … [Read more...]

So this is how it is possible to be a churchman and an evangelical. Not only is it possible, I believe that rightly understood, the two require each other.
We are told that we are supposed to let the fire of our zeal burn hot -- we are supposed to be on the boil (Rom. 12:11). We … [Read more...]